Apparatus for vending articles



May 10, 1955 M M. BERGER ET AL APPARATUS FOR VENDING ARTICLES 2sheets-sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1949 INVENTORS: MART/N M. BERGER By E0 5IEEA/DL )Zn/m; VWMQLQMM TTNE YS,

May 10, 1955 M. M. BERGER ET AL APPARATUS FOR VENING ARTICLES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17. 1949 Ihm.

INVENToRs.- MAR T//v M. BERGER United States Patent Oiiice l2,708,053Patented May 10, 1955 APPARATUS FOR VENDING ARTICLES Martin M. Berger,New York, N. Y., and Leo S. Bendl,

Another object of the invention is to provide a vending apparatus whichis similar in construction to and adapted to embody all of the improvedfeatures of the cigarvending mechanism disclosed and claimed in saidBerger application but which is also adapted to deliver two cigars orlike articles upon a single actuation; said mechanism Hackensack, N. J.,assignors to Cigaromat Corporation of America, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application December 17, 1949, Serial No.133,518 1 Claim. (Cl. 221-252) herefrom, or may be learned by practicewith the inven- 1,`

tion, the same being realized and attained by means of theinstrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claim.

The invention consists in the novel parts', constructions,

arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevation with parts broken away of a vending machinemechanism embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the ejecting device at theend of its stroke;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line 5 5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6-6 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary Vertical section similar to Figs. 2 and 3,showing the ejector on its return stroke.

The present application relates in part to improvements over thecigar-vending machine disclosed and claimed in the application of Bergeret al. Serial No. 694,774, filed September 4, 1946, for Cigar VendingApparatus, now Patent No. 2,599,685, issued June 10, 1952; and in otherrespects relates to an invention of independent scope.

A primary object of the invention is to provide novel and useful meansfor vending two articles on one actuation of a coin-operated vendingmachine. In the sale by coin-controlled vending machines of cigars, forexample, such machines are normally set to deliver a single cigar uponpayment of a predetermined sum made up of one or more coins. Forexample, as shown in said Berger application, the machine may bedesigned to deliver a single cigar selected from any one of a pluralityof magazines, the vending mechanisms of said magazines all beingoperable upon insertion of the same coin sum into the coin mechanism.However, in the vending of cigars and of other articles as well, itfrequently happens that a certain grade or type of article is priced tosell` as two units for a given price. For example, there are popularbrands of cigars which sell at two for e and thus the problem arises ofproviding a Vending machine which is adapted to deliver l5 cigars singlefrom certain magazines and is also capable of delivering two cigars forthe same 15 price from another magazine. The present invention providesnovel devices which make it possible to deliver two cigars or otherarticles for a single price and upon a single actuation of the deliverymechanism.

also being adapted, by a very simple interchange of parts, to deliver asingle article instead.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article-vendingmechanism which will deliver one article from a stack or supply thereofupon an initial actuation or stroke in one direction and will deliver asecond article from said stack upon its return stroke. In accordancewith the invention said mechanism is also designed to deliver onearticle from the stack in one direction, as into a receptacle, and todeliver a'second article from said stack in the opposite direction andif desired into a diierent receptacle.

Generally described the invention is designed to cooperate with amagazine holding a supply of cigars arranged horizontally in asuperposed vertical stack.

- Adjacent the bottom of the stack there is provided an oscillatableejecting member which is adapted to be given a stroke one direction awayfrom the bottom of the magazine and then to return to its originalposition, said movements of the member being effected manually by theoperator of the machine under the release of a coin or check-controlledactuator. In accordance with the invention the ejecting member isdesigned to engage and eject the bottom cigar in the stack upon itsinitial stroke away from the bottom of the stack and, upon its returnmovement, to engage and eject the succeeding cigar at the bottom of thestack and to deliver same in the opposite direction from that of the rstcigar. This basic ejection and delivery mechanism is combined withfeatures disclosed in said Berger application whereby the feeding of thecigar is controlled and is adaptable to cigars of different sizes andshapes without intermediate adjustments of any mechanism.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory butare not restrictive of the invention. v

Referring now in detail to the present preferred embodiment of theinvention, illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, asingle magazine is shown for holding a vertical column of cigarsarranged horizontally in superposed relation and adapted to be fed ordispensed from the bottom of the stack. This magazine is ordinarily tobe one of a battery, as in said Berger application. Sairl magazine isessentially rectangular in cross-section and comprises vertical frontwings 1, 1', side walls 2 and 3 and rear wall 4. The cigars C arearranged as described within said magazine and are contained within acardboard carton which fits within the magazine. Said carton is similart'o that disclosed in said Berger application, comprising a rear wall 5,end Walls 6 and 7 and a front wall which in use is open down themiddleto provide the front flaps 8 and 9, thereby exposing the interiorof the carton when the removable panel (not shown) is torn awaytherefrom. The front wings 1 and 1 overlie the strips 8 and 9 of thevcarton and thereby leave a substantial portion of the front face of thestack of cigars exposed to view and adjustment, as disclosed anddescribed in said Berger application. The carton is supported within themagazine by a top Hap 12 which is bent upwardly, rearwardly anddownwardly to overlie the top edge of the rear wall 4 of the magazineand be engaged by a tongue 13 which is struck out from the upper part ofsaid magazine wall.

The lower portion of the carton is broken away at 14 to free the cigarsfor delivery from the bottom of the magazine and to permit the operationof associated devices as hereinafter described.

In order further to facilitate the delivery of the cigars from thebottom of the magazine, the walls of the magazine proper terminate at18, the magazine being supported above the base plate 16 by a U-shapedstrap, the vertical legs 19 and 20 of which are welded to the side walls2 and 3 respectively of the magazine. The bottom 21 of said strapextends across and is welded to the upper face of the base plate 16 andis provided with two elevated level portions 22 which normally supportthe lowerrn-ost cigar in the stack.

In accordance with the invention the means for ejecting or deliveringcigars from the bottom of the stack comprises an oscillatablerectangular cage 25 which, as shown in Fig. 2, normally lies at thebottom of the magazine in alinement With the walls thereof and occupiesthe greater portion of the space between the bottom 18 of the magazineand the cigar-supporting surfaces 22. In such normal position thereforthe cage 25 loosely surrounds and encloses the bottom-most cigar C-1 inthe stack. The lower portions of the arms 19 and 20 of themagazine-supporting bracket are bent outwardly at 26 and 27 to providefor freedom of movement of the cage 25.

The cage 25 is mounted for limited oscillatory movement rearwardly andforwardly with respect to the bottom of the magazine. For this purpose,the lower rear edge 30 of a pivotally movable plate 31 is welded to theinner rear face of the cage 25 and extends upwardly therefrom along therear wall 4 of the magazine. The upper end of plate 31 is pivotallymounted on the back wall 4 by means of a pin 32 which lies within areentrant ange 33 at the upper edge of the plate 31. The upper portion34 of the plate, which includes said flange 33, is cut away to provide anarrowed tongue portion, and the opposite ends of the pin 32 aresupported on the wall 4 of the magazine adjacent the edges of saidtongue by means of strips 35 which are punched out from said wall 4.Thus the plate 31 is free to rock away from the plate 4 about the pin32. The plate 31 is normally urged against the plate 4 and into theposition shown in Fig. 2 by means of a leaf spring 36, the lower end ofwhich is welded to the rear face of plate 31 and the upper curved end 37of which bears against the wall 4 above the pin 32.

Means are provided for imparting to-and-fro oscillatory motion to thecage 25, said means as shown comprise a flange 40 extending from theplate 31 along and parallel to the end wall 3 of the magazine. Saidflange extends downwardly and forwardly beyond said wall and near itslower end is provided with a cam slot 41. Said cam slot is designed tocoact with an actuating rod (not shown), which will impart a to-and-frooscillationto the ange 4t) and the plate 31 as indicated by the arrowsin Fig. 2. Said oscillatory movement is adapted to be imparted to theactuating rod by manual operation of a push button or other conventionalactuating means extending outside the vending machine and the liberationthereof for actuation is preferably coin or check-controlled as isconventional in the art. The actuating motion imparted to the plate 40is designed to first move same rearwardly in the direction and to'theposition shown in Fig. 3. By such rearward oscillatory stroke, thelowermost cigar C-l lying within the cage 25, is

carried transversely and rearwardly by the cage until it clears thebottom members 22 and 16 of the magazine. Then it is free to fall fromthe cage and into a dispensing receptacle or pan as indicated in Fig. 3.It will be clear that the size of the cage need be only such that itloosely surrounds the cigar C-l and thus a wide variety of widths,lengths and shapes of cigars can be handled by the same cage.

The return stroke of the cage 25 is adapted to eject a second cigar C-2which in the meantime has moved to the bottom of the magazine, occupyingthe space provided by the removal of cigar C-1. In its return stroke,the forward wall of the empty cage 25 thus bears against the rear sideof cigar C-2 and, under the influence of spring 36, pushes that cigartransversely toward the front of the machine and delivers samedownwardly and forwardly as shown in Fig. 7. Thus it will be clear thatthe mechanism shown and described is capable of delivering two cigarsupon a single actuating or oscillation of the cage 25, and that, ifdesired, said cigars may be delivered into separate bins lying on eitherside of the center axis of the magazine, or, as will more commonly bethe case, both cigars fall into the same delivery bin and are thusdelivered to the customer together for the price of one actuation of thecoin-controlled delivery means.

In accordance with the invention, the delivery of cigar C-2, that is thecigar moved forwardly by the return movement of the cage, is adapted totake place against a resilient restraint so that the cigar iscontrollably engaged during the delivery stroke and until it falls freefrom the bottom of the magazine. This mechanism, which is similar tothat disclosed and claimed in said Berger application, is thus designedto accommodate the mechanism for the handling of a wide range of sizesand shapes of cigars without individual adjustment of the restrainingmeans. As shown, a downwardly and outwardly curved guide tongue ismounted to extend across the lower edge of the front wings 1, 1 of themagazine and occupy a substantial part of the open space between thebottom 18 of the magazine and the cigar-supporting surfaces 22. Saidtongue is normally resiliently urged inwardly toward the stack ofcigars, being pivotally mounted on the face of the front wings by meansof flanges 51 formed at either end of the tongue and lying against lugs52 which extend outwardly from the front wings l, 1 Pivotal support forthe `tongue is provided by the U-shaped bail 53, the inturned legs ofwhich pass through the lugs 52 and flanges 51. A coiled spring 54 iswrapped around one leg of the bail and extends upwardly to bear againstthe front face of wing 1 of the magazine at 55.

As in said Berger application, the invention provides means forpreventing actuation of the ange 40 when the supply of cigars in themagazine has been depleted and until the magazine has been replenished.For this purpose a stop member is placed at the end of a pivoted bar 61,said bar being mounted intermediate its ends'to rock about a pivot pin62 projecting from the face of magazine wall 4. Said hook 60 is adaptedto move into the path of the cam (not shown) which actuates flange 40and when so moved the customer will be prevented from actuating theactuating flange.

Means are provided for holding the stop 60 and its associated lever bar61 in the retracted position (Fig. 4)

` so long as there is more than one cigar C in the magazine.

Such means comprise a linger or feeler 65 pivotally mounted at 66 on achannel bracket 67 extending from the Wall 4 of the magazine. Saidfinger 65 normally is depressed by the presence of cigars C in themagazine as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower or outer side of saidfinger 65 is cut away to form a curved notch at 68 and said curvenormally engages and lies against a rounded member 69 formed on thedepressed end of pivot bar 61. When in that position, as shown in Figs.2 and 3, the de pressed hook 65 prevents the bar 61 from tiltingclockwise (Fig. 4) as urged by the heavier end 60. However, when themagazine becomes emptied of all but one cigar thc finger 65 is free tomove inwardly and upwardly into the magazine and thus permits the bar 61to tilt about its pivot to project stop 60 into the path of theactuating cam for ange 40.

It will be noted that the plate 31 is cut awayat 70` to accommodatebracket 67, nger 65 and their associated parts, and said hinge plate isalso provided with a U- shaped channel 71 which provides clearance forthe pivot' pin 61 and the bar 60.

While the foregoing description has been specificallyapplied to thevending of cigars, it will be understood that many features of it may beapplied to the vending and delivery of other types of articles which maybe cylindrical or rectancular or irregular in cross-section and whichare adapted to move in alternate directions from the bottom of a stackor pile thereof,

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specicmechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefromWithin the scope of the accompanying claim Without departing from theprinciples of the invention and without sacrificing its chiefadvantages.

What is claimed is:

A cigar vending machine including in combination a magazine for holdingan upright stack of cigars superposed on each other and lyinghorizontally on their long axes, an ejecting member movable transverselywith respect to the bottom of the stack, said ejecting member includinga frame member in which the bottom cigar is adapted to lie and bedelivered, an opening in the magazine in said path of movement fordelivery of the bottom cigar engaged by said frame when moved throughsaid opening, said movement clearing the bottom of the stack to permit asecond cigar to move thereto, and an opening at the opposite side or"the magazine for delivery of said second cigar therethrough by means ofthe engagement of a portion of the outer surface of said frame uponreturn movement of said frame, said ejecting member including an armpivoted relatively to the magazine, said arm being attached to saidframe member and means for imparting oscillatory movement to said framemember to move said frame through the openings on opposite sides of themagazine.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 123,607lBaltzley Feb. 13, 1872 800,450 lemm et al Sept. 26, 1905 2,129,897Williams Sept. 12, 1938 2,565,183 Morgan Aug. 21, 1951

